Thursday, February 26, 2009

Where are the Environmentally Friendly Carpet Cleaners?

Last weekend I woke up with a scratchy sore throat. Since it didn’t get any worse or better throughout the day, I knew that my allergies were the culprit. Doing a deep Spring cleaning of our bedroom usually clears up whatever dust or dander is bothering me. When Husband got home from his 15 mile run (yes 15 miles – the man is a machine! Oh, and he runs too.) I asked him to be careful because the carpets might still be wet because I steam cleaned them with the carpet shampooer while he was out.

“Yeah, I know”, he said and wrinkled his nose; “I can smell chemicals.”

I grabbed the bottle of carpet shampoo and did a little research on what might be in my carpet cleaner. It wasn’t very easy because in the law doesn’t require US companies to list the ingredients of their cleaning products on their labels.

My bottle of carpet cleaner was a store brand, so it wasn't in the Household Products Database but I found a few comparable brands. I found two iffy chemicals that may be in my carpet shampoo, Propane and Isobutane. The database reports that with liquid forms of both chemicals can cause chemical burns. Now the levels they are talking about are a pure form of the liquid chemical and not watered down or mixed in a solution as in my carpet cleaner. But since 12 pound Blitzkrieg pads around on my freshly cleaned and damp carpets (despite my best efforts to keep him from doing so) I don’t want to take any chances of those nasty chemicals getting on his paws and then inside him when he grooms himself.

That’s the last time I cheap out on buying rug shampoo.

I’m having a hard time finding an environmentally and pet friendly rug shampoo for my steam carpet cleaner. Getting rid of the carpeting in The Condo isn’t an option right now. The Condo’s built on a concrete slab so our floors on the first floor get nippy during the winter. Besides the carpets are in very good shape and with us putting our extra cash into our Emergency Fund to prepare for the time when Husband’s company moves out of state at the end of this year (grumble, grumble) buying a good rug shampoo is better alternative both financially and environmentally because we try to reduce generating a lot of unnecessary waste.

I need your help. Do you have a favorite green carpet shampoo? Will it work in a steam carpet cleaner? What is it?

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